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NOOK Book(eBook)

Overview

POLITICS IS MURDER is an omnibus edition of two novels, Prior Convictions (1991) and The Good Fight (1990), originally published by Simon & Schuster.

PRIOR CONVICTIONS was nominated for the mystery genre's top prizes, the Edgar Allan Poe Award and the Anthony Award. It was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year, its heroine described as "among the most articulate, and surely the wittiest of women sleuths at large in the genre." (Marilyn Stasio, New York Times)After a year in the Los Angeles office of a Wall Street firm, lawyer Willa Jansson has, she hopes, finally repaired an epic hit to her résumé. Still mourning the love life she left behind in San Francisco, she goes home ... but finds no warm welcome there. Her activist parents consider her a political sell-out, and her despised ex-boyfriend begins sabotaging her at her new job. If they have their way, Willa will end up dying for a cause none of them believe in anymore.

THE GOOD FIGHT features lawyer Laura Di Palma at the top of her career, famous for her clever defense of a man who murdered two senators. But the case brought her notoriety as well as kudos, undermining her position in a top firm. Its partners warn her: She'll be fired if she insists on taking another high profile case involving politics. But she can't say no to activist Dan Crosetti, accused of shooting his best friend, who turned out to be an undercover FBI agent. Laura was with Crosetti years before when a military truck ran over protesters blocking its path. Crosetti lost his legs that day, and Laura won't see him lose his freedom, too.

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Product Details

About the Author

Lia Matera is the author of twelve novels, eleven short stories, and a novella. She is a graduate of Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco, where she was editor-in-chief of The Hastings Constitutional Law Quarterly. She is a member of the California Bar and was a Teaching Fellow at Stanford Law School before becoming a full-time writer.

Two of her novels, A Radical Departure and Prior Convictions, were nominated for the mystery genre's top prize, the Edgar Allan Poe Award, and Prior Convictions was a New York Times Notable Book. Three of her novels were nominated for the Anthony Award, and two were nominated for the Macavity Award. She has also published two short story collections and an anthology of original stories by other crime writers. Her story "Dead Drunk," originally printed in Scott Turow's Guilty As Charged, won the Private Eye Writers of America Shamus Award for Best Short Story of 1996. Her novella Champawat placed third in the vote for Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine's 2012 Readers Award.

Editorial Reviews

PRIOR CONVICTIONS: "Here is a mystery with a distinctive voice, sharp wit, discussion of social and moral issues, insight into personal ideals and compromises and characters that grab your emotions."

newspaper - Washington Post

PRIOR CONVICTIONS: "Matera's wit, grace with language, irreverence toward the legal system, and wry dissection of being a child of the Sixties make this a standout... If you want to catch an author on the verge of best-sellerdom, read this."

magazine - Kirkus Reviews

PRIOR CONVICTIONS: "Intelligent and entertaining... Absorbing... With sharp descriptions and crisp dialogue...admirably delivers the complex situations and memorable characters of a 'real novel' while still managing to let the detective story have its day in court."

Journal - Wall Street

The Good Fight is sharply written, brilliantly observed.

NPR "Fresh Air" - John Leonard

THE GOOD FIGHT: "Extraordinary, thought-provoking. Laura Di Palma is one of the most compelling characters in recent mystery fiction."